Saturday, October 13, 2007

Pink Ribbon Hat

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I've created this lovely cap with six cabled pink ribbons, separated by mini cables that work their way all the way up to the crown and join in the center. This hat could easily be made in a different color to support various causes: red for AIDS/HIV, yellow for the troops, a variegated rainbow yarn for gay rights, your choice! Here's a list of awareness ribbon colors and their meanings to help you along.

Special Abbreviations:
FC3 = slip next 2 sts onto cable needle, hold in front, purl next st, knit sts from cable needle
BC3 = slip next st onto cable needle, hold in back, knit next 2 sts, purl st from cable needle
m1Lp = make 1 left purlwise - insert left needle from front to back under bar between next 2 sts, and purl this new stitch through the back loop
m1Rp = make 1 right purlwise - insert left needle from back to front under bar between next 2 sts, and purl this new stitch

79 comments:

Very nice work! Just saw your pattern on Ravelry. Got my invitation yesterday & it's quite exciting. I think I may knit one of your cable ribbon hats for my Mom, who's had b.cancer. Thanks very much for sharing!

D=< And just when I was looking for something to knit for Breast cancer week, I find THIS! I'm so mad, and I'm hopping up and down o n my toes. I would have LOVED to have worn this on b.cancer day. =) Anyways, it's really lovely. ~Sekaya fifteenyearoldcrazyknitter.

You'll need to know how to knit, purl, work in the round on a circular needle and double-pointed needles, increase, decrease and work cables. You can work the cables from the chart if you want, but I've also written out those rounds individually if you prefer that.

If you have any trouble, do let me know and I'll help however I can. If I can't explain something in words, I can hopefully link you to helpful websites with pictures and videos.

For the even numbers, FC2 and FC4, click here for my common abbreviations. In these cases, the two or four stitches (respectively) involved in the twist are all knit stitches. You will slip half of them to a cable needle, hold it in front of your work, knit the other half of the stitches, then knit the ones from the cable needle.

The abbreviations that are only used in this pattern, like FC3, are listed at the beginning under "Special Abbreviations". With FC3, only two of the stitches are knits and one is a purl stitch. You'll slip the two knit stitches to the cable needle, hold it in front, purl the next stitch, then knit the two from the cable needle. Similarly, with BC3, you'll slip the one purl stitch to the cable needle, hold it in back, knit the next two stitches, then purl the one from the cable needle.

There is no FC5, unless I made a typo somewhere, in which case, let me know where and I'll fix it.

Hello. I'm enjoying knitting the pink ribbon hat, but, I just can't figure out how to make the m1Lp and m1Rp stitches. I'm assuming the "next 2 sts" are stitches on the right needle, but maybe that's incorrect. But then I don't know how to purl that stitch. Thanks for any help you can give me!!

By "next 2 sts", I mean the st you just worked that's now on the right needle and the first st on the left needle. You'll pick up the bar between them by poking under it with your left needle (from the front for a m1Lp and from the back for a m1Rp), then you'll purl this new st (through the back loop for a m1Lp and through the front loop for a m1Rp). Knittinghelp.com has videos for this if you are a visual learner. Scroll down on this page to M1R and M1L, and at the bottom of each of those paragraphs are videos for how to do them purlwise.

Nancy, the things inside [] are to be repeated 6 times to complete each round. The things in () are for the larger size. If you're making the smaller size, ignore them; if you're making the larger size, you'll work what's in the () instead of the instruction just before the ().

I can't wait to make one of these for one of the girls in my depression/anxiety group. Thanks so much for linking to the list of ribbon meanings. I appreciate the pattern. Check me out on ravelry (knittergoddss) next month and I'll post pictures of my finished product with a link to your pattern.

i am so excited to find this pattern! i've been looking for something like this literally for MONTHS!!! my best friend is recovering from her breast CA surgery. she would be tickled pink to have one of these. thanks so much!

This is so pretty... my mom is always finding patterns for things to make with pink ribbons in them, so I am secretly making this for her for Christmas. Hopefully she doesn't run across this pattern before I'm done!

would you be able to adapt the hat pattern to an afghan (or lapghan) pattern? I would love to make this for my aunt (cancer survivor) but I think she would like a small afghan over the hat. Not sure how to change from hat pattern....is there a multiple of "x" stitches to get the pattern?

Sure, you could just cast on a multiple of 12 plus 2 stitches, but any border stitches you want (like a garter stitch border to prevent curling). Then just follow the chart for however many repeats to get the size afghan you want. Keep in mind that the chart and written instructions are for working in the round, so you'd have to reverse even rounds (knit the purls and purl the knits) for the back side of the afghan. The chart also doesn't include the 2-stitch mini cable between the pink ribbons. Good luck!

This is a beautiful pattern, thank you so much for sharing it! I see that you suggested it could be changed for an afghan. I'd love to make this for a breast cancer survivor friend in a larger gauge yarn. Can the pattern be adjusted for that? For instance for a 16 stitch = 4" gauge? Thank you!

I found your beautiful pattern on Ravelry. Gorgeous! I am currently training/fundraising for the Susan G. Korman Breast Cancer 3-day walk. I would like to sell your hat as a method of fundraising, 100% of the proceeds would go towards breast cancer research. Would you grant permission for that?

This hat is beautiful. I have been looking for a ribbon pattern that incorporated cables. Would it be okay if I make up some hats and sell as a fundraiser? I am participating in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day as well and holding a big design a bra contest in October. Was hoping to have some nice hand made things to sell as well? And for Minnesota in October I think a hat would be great. Thanks, Grace

You could absolutely do this pattern flat and seam it up. I would cast on two extra stitches, one on each end, to be the seam stitches later. Then you work odd-numbered rows the as written, but reverse knits and purls on the even-numbered rows. For example,Rnd 12: [k2, p2(3), k2, p6, k2, p2(3)] 6 times.would becomeRow 12: [p2, k2(3), p2, k6, p2, k2(3)] 6 times.The only row that would involve more than simple knitting and purling would beRnd 32: [k2, p6(7), k2tog, m1Lp, p6(7)] 6 times.which would becomeRow 32: [p2, k6(7), p2tog, m1L, k6(7)] 6 times.

And since the main body of the hat ends with an odd row, the Crown Shaping will be the opposite - all even-numbered rows will stay the same, while knits and purls are interchanged on the odd rows.

Hope that all makes sense. Let me know if you have any more questions.

I just found your pattern for the pink ribbon hat. I would like to knit one. I had cancer of the uterus and my coworker had breast cancer. I am writing this out to use with straight needles when I got to row 33 it says small size only but how about rows 34,35,36 and the crown shaping after row 12 it has large size only then under it both sizes which one do I use to make the small size.

For the small size, there is no row 34 or 35. If it says "large size only", just ignore it and skip to the next section. Same for the second part of the crown shaping. You'll go straight from row 12 of the crown shaping to the "both sizes" section, and pretend the large size stuff isn't even there.

I just finished knitting your beautiful hat in size small. The picture shows a FC2 cross at the top of the hat, but rows 13 through 20 of the crown directions don't include a FC2. My last 8 rows look like K2's. Did I do something wrong? Thank you.

Hi Carissa,I love this pattern. I have a friend that recently lost her mom to cancer. I would love to make this hat for her in memory of her mom. However I am unable to print out the whole pattern. It will give me the first page then the rest comes out blank. Can you help me??

Would you be able to create a pattern for a headband with the pink ribbon around it like the hat? I plan on making them for all our members of Walkathon for Breast Cancer month? I plan on making the hat for the survivors which is beautiful and headband for the supporters. Maybe in two colors? pink and white.

You could easily stick my ribbon cable chart into a simple headband pattern, like this one or this one. If nothing else, you could just work my chart a few times, long enough to wrap around your head, then sew the ends together. Hope that helps!

Thank you so for this pattern. You said NOT to sell the hat. Would you mind if I made some for charity and they sold them to raise money? Please let me know.my e mail is jallard55@comcast.net Thank you again. Judy

Absolutely! Charity fundraising is totally acceptable. I just don't want anyone trying to start a business and profit off my ideas. Thanks for understanding, and thanks for asking in advance! Let me know if you have any questions about the pattern.

Hi Carissa, I've just started to lose my hair & found your pattern. I'm making it for myself, however, I'm not sure what the FC2 is.... You have explanations for FC3 etc, but none for the FC2... Can you help me out please! Thank you

No problem, Janet! To work the FC2, you will slip 1 st onto a cable needle, hold it in front of your work, knit next st, then knit the st from the cable needle. For future reference, all my frequently-used abbreviations are here.

Clarissa, My friends who have survived and lost to breast cancer has reached 20. I would like to make your hat and sell to my colleagues and donate to the Susan B Komen Foundation in my friends honor/memory if ok with you. Beverly Siegrist

I need some help - I'm stuck on "Rnd 33: [k2, p14] 5 times, k2, p7, pm to mark new beg of rnds.". I'm making the small size and I have it marked off with stitch markers so each section with a ribbon is marked and they are each 16 inches. K2, P14 5 times comes up right but it says the last section you only k2 p7, which is 9 stitches. That leaves me 7 extra stitches. Maybe I'm reading it wrong - what does "pm to mark new beg of rnds" mean?

"pm" means "Place Marker". So this means you'll still a little stitch marker ring (or a safety pin, or a scrap of yarn tied in a knot, or whatever you like) after those last 9 stitches to mark where the *new* beginning of your rounds will be. That means those final 7 stitches that haven't been worked yet will now become the *first* 7 stitches of the next round.

Let me know if that is still unclear, or if you have any other questions.

I'm not familiar with that yarn and when I search the web, I find there are a lot of yarns called Baby Soft, so I'm not sure which you mean. As long as you are able to get the gauge specified in the pattern though, it should be fine.